Last year, tragedy overtook the Philp family. Their elder daughter Ella, aged 19, who attended primary and secondary schools in Teignbridge, suddenly contracted a fatal illness while at Cardiff University. Following her death, her family wanted to celebrate a particular feature of Ella's life which was her love of the arts, and of musical theatre in particular. To this end, they asked friends and relatives to donate to The Helen Foundation, a charity they had known about for some time. As a result of the funding raised in Ella’s name, and a top up from The Helen Foundation, £5000 has been created for The Ella Philp Fund.
From time to time, THF gets requests for support from schools and colleges to be able to purchase licences for some of the big musicals that schools love to put on but often can't find the money for, like The Wizard of Oz, Matilda, and Jesus Christ Superstar. In 2024, schools and colleges can now apply to the Ella Philp Memorial Fund if they wish to have funding for a licence for a show that they would otherwise be unable to afford.
Equally, the fund could be drawn on by schools wishing to mount their own home-grown music and drama productions but need help with the production costs. Access to the fund requires the completion of a simple application form, and the fund will close when all the money is spent.
We know how much both Ella and Helen gained from their love of musical theatre, and this offers an exciting opportunity for a number of schools to mount productions, which in turn would benefit many hundreds of children, giving them the wonderful experience and the joys of taking part in a live musical theatre production.
Teignbridge schools will shortly receive an e-letter via Daisi, with whom THF works closely, explaining how they may apply for support from the Ella Philp Fund.
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